THE LIGHT RAILWAY SCHEME.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 10627, 4 June 1897, Page 4

THE LIGHT RAILWAY SCHEME.

SIB,— No distiiat wnnld benefit sr> much, m that of Hawke'aßty by tho ptopoßed light railway. Not only wonM it connect you with Auokland, but U would giro you an imniNioe quantity of bnck oountry, «nd also conneoilou with Poverty Bay, Bay of Plenty, Taranskt, and the whole of the Weßt Coast. The effaos mnst be to greatly icctossa the importauca of Napier. The following is the Bobeme cf light railway construction for the North Maud, which I plncad before the Council of tbe Anokland Chamber of Cmuainrcaab onr meeting on tbo 18A lnstßcif. My fellow ooanolllors could nGt, hcttever, Bee their way to supporting uiy proposal. As ib «ppo»rs to me that it would serve tbo oolony much belter, and coal It moo!) less, than It wonld to complete tho central line, I place tt before tie public for what Id may to worth, I propose that we should consirncb a line of not more than two feet olx inches {2ft 6ln) gauge from Kotornu, via Galatea, to Gliborne, with brandies from Galatea to Opotiki, from Galatea to Napier, and from Galatea to Tokasnu at the southern end of Lake Tanpo. This would for the present complete our south ■ eastern •ystem, On tbe west I propose to carry the line from Mokau to Stratford, and trom Tanmarunul, on the Upper Wangannl, to Tokaanu. Thla would complete the ■oath-west system. By following this plan we should not only oonneod Aaokland And Wellington by both the East and West Coasts; bnt we shoal d alio have a line from east to west tight acrosi the centre ot tbe island, which wonW connect Opotlkl, Glsborne, Napier, Tanpo with Taranakl, and the whole oan be dine for probably not morti than half what it will cost to oomPielie the central roato, whloh will benefib y-^na dlatrlot except, it may be, Wollln^ton --* I farther propose that we ahoald take a line of tho same gauge ftoin Kanol to Whangarel, from Whakapara to Opna, Opua to MoDgonui, Opna to Herd's Point, Herd's Point to Kalba. Thla for the present woald complete the northern ' system. The magnitude of this soheme may startle some people, and o&nse them to condemn It, bat I think I shall be able to show that we oan complete the whole three aystems for considerably— ptobably half a million— lesß than it wonld oost to complete the oentral route fioao Anokland to Wellington. Now, aa to the cost, I have very owefully considered this matter. In India these light railways have been tanning for many years. The railway reports from that conntry are regularly forwarded to me. There have been as many es five different gangeß, and in some Instanoea they are all at work in one system, These gangea we 6ft 6ln, 4ft, 3ft 3ln, 2ft 6in, and 3ft. To oonstrnct the 6ft 6iri lines oqbU an average of £10,582 per mile, / and 3ft gin coats £4741 per mtlo, No separate accounts are kept tor the other three gangea; they are "lumped" together as "special eaages," their average oost being only £821 per mile. By oarefnl oalonlatlon I am able tn arrive at the fact) that the cost of railway construction in New Zauland is 43 per cent more than it Is in India. This would bring the price of the light) lines here up to £1178 per mile. We may, therefore, safely conclude that we oonld oonetmcb 2(6 61a lines in New Zealand at a ciont of not more than £1200 per mile. This also tailless with esti nastes formod from othßr sources. Thlo price, of course, iuolndoß saUabla and anffiolent rolling stock. The approximate oost of the three systems would then work out as fol low:— Northern sretem ... 230 .„ 278,000 Sonth-Ea.'itern system 429 ... 514,800 SQndh-Westeru system 150 ... 180,000 809 970,800 Tbe estimated distances are arrived at ))y taking the straight line and adding one-third for deflections. This ahoald be . teore than ample. It must be borne fa mind that on these narrow gauge railways a larger percentage of the money earned goeß in working expenses them on the wider Ranges. In India It is 440 per cent more than the 3ft 31n lines, and 8 02 than tbe Bit 61n lines ; baton the other band this is compensated for many times over by the great s&vlng in Interest on tbe capital coat. In this country last year oat of every £100 earned by oar railways £63 10s was , absorbed In working esDßnees. On 2ft ■^Bla lines It Is probable £79 ont of every ■■MSIOO would bare t»sl>e expended. On the other oatjid, to oonstraot 809 |^Bulles of rail through the oonntry mdi ted on the present gauge woald cost at £6,200,000. on whloh tbe annnil ■■Marge at 4 per cent woald be £248,000, tha annual charge at 4 per BH^Hpt on the light railways wonld be only tight thousand eight hundred and pounds (£38,832). Surely it wonld be more to the ad • BVvantage of the North Island to carry ont jHp this soheme than to spend a maoh larger HP amoant ia merely carrying through the W "oentral route." J By carrying ont the plan proposed every provincial district in tbe North Island • would be equally benefited. The central route woald only benefit Auckland and Wellington, and them only to a very small extent probably not eqaal to the extra taxation they would have to pay. I commend the matter to the careful consideration of my fellow-colonists and their Parliamentary representatives.— l am, &o , Samuel Vaile, - Auckland, 26th May, 1897.